Chapter 3 - The Papers With Her NameClaire returned from the office with a master access key and an event authorization form.
“The cabinet is rented under your hosting account,” she told Naomi. “I can accompany you while you inspect it.”
Lorraine stepped forward.
“That won't be necessary.”
“It is to me,” Naomi replied.
Daniel caught her elbow.
“Please. Just five minutes alone.”
Naomi looked at his hand.
He released her.
“Say whatever you want right now.”
Daniel glanced at Claire.
Then at Lorraine.
His voice dropped.
“Some paperwork got mixed into the party preparations. That's all.”
“What paperwork?”
“Property documents.”
“Whose property?”
He looked down.
Naomi nodded slowly.
“Exactly.”
She asked Claire whether the corridor had cameras.
“Yes,” Claire said. “The service entrance and staging hallway are recorded.”
“Please preserve the footage.”
Lorraine gave a short, disbelieving laugh.
“Now we're conducting a criminal investigation at a baby shower?”
Naomi didn't answer.
She took Ellie's hand and followed Claire through a side door.
The corridor behind the beautiful ballroom was narrow and brightly lit.
Catering carts stood against one wall.
Metal cabinets lined the other.
Claire stopped at cabinet fourteen.
Naomi noticed a small strip of pink wrapping ribbon trapped beneath its door.
The same ribbon Lorraine had used on the party favors.
Claire opened the cabinet.
Inside were three floral boxes, a tablet charger, and a thick gray document folder.
The folder was labeled:
ROSEMONT COURT — PRELIMINARY TRANSACTION.
Naomi felt a wave of nausea.
Daniel stepped closer.
“It's just a preliminary review.”
Naomi opened the folder.
The first page contained photographs of Rosemont Court.
The second showed its four apartments, approximate rental income, and property boundaries.
The third displayed an architectural drawing.
In the drawing, the blue-fronted building was gone.
A larger commercial development stood in its place.
Naomi turned the page.
A heading caught her attention.
OWNER AUTHORIZATION — NAOMI BROOKS.
Beneath it was her full name.
And below her name was a signature.
Her signature.
Or something that looked disturbingly like it.
Naomi's throat went dry.
“I didn't sign this.”
Lorraine remained behind her.
“It's an authorization to explore options.”
“I didn't authorize anything.”
“Perhaps you don't remember.”
Naomi spun around.
“Don't say that to me again.”
Her voice echoed through the staging corridor.
Ellie flinched.
Naomi immediately lowered her tone.
“I'm sorry, baby.”
She turned back toward Lorraine.
“I'm not confused. I'm not forgetful. And I'm not letting you use my pregnancy to make me doubt myself.”
Daniel reached for the folder.
Naomi pulled it away.
“Don't.”
He stopped.
“This isn't final,” he insisted.
“Then why is my signature on it?”
Nobody answered.
Naomi looked more closely at the signature.
She had signed her name a thousand times.
The looping N.
The long downward stroke of the B.
The uneven space between her first and last names.
This signature looked like hers.
But she knew one thing with absolute certainty.
She had never signed that page.
Claire cleared her throat.
“Mrs. Brooks, we need to document what was found because the cabinet is under an event rental.”
“Please do.”
Naomi photographed the folder, every visible page, and the cabinet contents.
She asked Claire to note the time and preserve the original storage records.
She did not take the folder.
That choice frustrated her.
Every instinct told her to hold on to the document and never release it.
But she understood that grabbing it during a public confrontation could create another dispute.
She wanted proof that would survive more than one furious afternoon.
Daniel watched without speaking.
When they returned to the ballroom, the celebration had effectively ended.
Guests were gathering their coats.
The towering pink cake remained untouched.
Naomi's feet ached, and her baby shifted heavily beneath her ribs.
She took a slow breath.
Then she looked at Daniel.
“Did you sign my name?”
“No.”
“Did your mother?”
“I don't know.”
“Did you know this document existed?”
His silence lasted two seconds.
Then three.
“Yes.”
The answer hurt more than she expected.
Naomi stared at the man whose hand had rested against her pregnant stomach less than an hour earlier.
“When were you planning to tell me?”
Daniel ran a hand over his beard.
“After we understood the options.”
“We?”
He looked toward Lorraine.
That was enough.
Naomi took Ellie's hand.
“We're going home.”
Daniel followed them toward the exit.
“Naomi, you can't just walk away from this marriage.”
She stopped at the doorway.
“I haven't decided anything about our marriage.”
Then she held up the packet.
“But someone decided something about my property without me.”
As she turned away, Claire hurried after her.
“Mrs. Brooks, there's something else.”
Naomi stopped.
Claire looked uncomfortable.
“When I checked the booking, I noticed another document attached to the storage request.”
“What document?”
“A copy of a recorded power of attorney.”
Naomi felt the blood drain from her face.
Claire continued carefully.
“It appears to give your husband authority to act on your behalf.”
Naomi stared at Daniel.
He wasn't looking at her.
May you like
He was looking at the floor.
And that was when she realized the forged authorization in the cabinet might be the smallest part of what her family had done.
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